Why you should check your sprocket bolts
Posted on March 29, 2010
Filed Under Maintenance, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
I recently went camping for 4 days at a 4WD and Motocross park in Northern NSW. I’m usually pretty good with staying on top of bike maintenance and always do pre-ride checks. I’ll check the spokes, chain tension, axle and other bolts. I’ll also rev the engine and look over the bike checking for rattles or vibration. Anything that’s working loose on a dirt bike should be obvious when the engine vibrates as you rev it.
I tightened up the sprocket bolts before the first days riding and everything else checked out fine. On the morning of day three of the trip I was eager to get out and do some laps as the rain had been on and of since we arrived and the weather had cleared for now. I quickly looked over the bike for visual signs of loose parts and didn’t see anything suspicious.
Dirt Bike Broken Sprocket
After cutting quite a few laps and landing on the down ramp of a table top the motor stopped suddenly and the bike felt weird. I new something was wrong as the motor seemed to just drop out without the usual drag from the engine when it stalls.
Sure enough, i looked at the rear wheel only to find my rear sprocket had broken into three separate pieces, torn the bolts and tabs clean off a couple of points on the hub, and jammed the chain into my now broken my chain guide. After pushing the bike back to the camp site and stripping the broken parts off the bike I noticed that it also took a gouge out of the inside of the swing arm and tore teeth off the front sprocket.
Dirt Bike Broken Hub
Now I’ve fitted a new Talon sprocket on a new set of rims and used medium strength loctite to make sure they stay tight. Also fitted a new chain, front sprocket and chain guide. I’ve had to learn an expensive lesson, so hopefully by reading this you won’t do the same.
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